145. Upgrades Upon Upgrades

Lukas woke up feeling sore and still light-headed the following morning. He hadn’t just overexerted himself physically but also mentally and arcanically. More than a year had passed since he put himself in such a stressful situation, and even longer since he had taken on a risk of such magnitude. It wasn’t smart, but it got the necessary results. Lukas wouldn’t have put himself in such danger if not for Escape Portal. Things would’ve gone much smoother if not for the incident with the obelisk.

The journal’s Hidden Pocket always contained surplus essences meant for Eins’s artisanal purposes. If Lukas hadn’t ordered it emptied for the obelisk, they could’ve fled immediately after the theft. It was a stressful situation, and he had made mistakes, yet he put the bulk of the blame on Lady Silverspine and the soulbound relic. They had misled and then screwed him.

Given the contents of the storage, the Stalker had done its job, stuffing the space with unpolished dracosteel ingots. There were also several scrolls and rough tomes in the Elder Wyrmkin tongue. The journal struggled to translate all of it. Lukas hoped Shae would be able to help. His former master held the rank of Shamin, and he, on occasion, assisted with her work.

If Dracosteel is an amplifier containing the power of dragons, can it help with the severance ritual?

As far as Lukas could tell, Lady Silverspine had personally observed him or interfered in his quests. He wondered if the ages he spent without completing any of her requests had anything to do with her attention. Once was enough. He decided there and then to ignore everything asked of him for the foreseeable future, regardless of what rewards he received. Before, his unwillingness was because he didn’t want to provide Lady Silverspine with any more of his services. After all, he had done so for several decades, and when pushed to fulfill her end of the bargain, she had used the journal. Now, she was misleading him and stealing his prize from several dimensions away. Now, it was spite.

Even now, as Lukas tried to distract himself from the pain and annoyance, he found himself turning to the journal. It had its value. Unlike most, he didn’t need to go to a temple or find an appraiser to learn of the options available for his ability growths. During the previous day’s chaos, he hadn’t checked the conjunction abilities available for Joybringer.

Only Body-Heart conjunction stood out to Lukas.

• Soronous: Treat air like it's metal, transmitting the effects of Joybringer over long distances without losing the effect during travel. You may lock onto a target, and they’ll continue hearing your music and benefiting from its effects even when out of sight and far away. The connection rapidly decays after an hour.

It felt like a perfect accompaniment to Heartshaker and would allow Bowie to use his unique ability in countless more ways. The most immediate benefit was ensuring only allies enjoyed the benefit of Joybringer’s positive effects and didn’t suffer from the negative, even while out of sight. Knowing Bowie, he would find creative ways of utilizing it, putting someone in a good mood before a meeting, so things worked out for Flukas. Alternatively, Lukas could also foresee the clone terrorizing and haunting someone they hated. It was an easy decision, and he didn’t need to think about the other options.

Meanwhile, the Heart-Mind conjunction came with two viable options.

• Enchant Minds: Weave ideas, dreams, or nightmares into music and plant them in the minds of your target. It won’t change who they are or force them into doing something they’d never do. However, the power of suggestion and belief is powerful.

• Inspire Greatness: Grant Inspiration to your targets, helping them push past their limitations and achieve greatness, helping tasks that would otherwise fail succeed. The inspiration will linger for an entire day, or until the target chooses to focus the imparted energy on a single task. Inspiration must be charged up over a full night of well-rested sleep.

Inspire Greatness intrigued Lukas. It was ambiguous but felt like a more intentional version of Fortune’s Favor if it only gave out good luck. He imagined it would work brilliantly for the artisans or even Ace. Gaining the benefits of Inspire Greatness during a great project or gambling would encourage great results. Unlike Fortune’s Favor, which relied completely on chance, the conjunction ability would push the target's skills to, if not past, their limits. The more Lukas thought about it, the more he liked it. The ability had benefits in Spell Weaving, infiltration, and even combat. He wondered what kind of extraordinary results were possible by combining Inspire Greatness and Fortune’s Favor.

Only the usage limits held it back. Lukas doubted it was exploitable. The shardbearer—the individual with Joybringer—would need to remain active and sleep a full night of sleep between granting inspiration. He theorized that a freshly summoned Bowie could do it only if Lukas slept well the night before, but worried that dispelling and resummoning the specialized clone wouldn't work.

Meanwhile, Enchant Minds had no major limitations. It felt like Mind Magic that didn't rob the target of their free will. He could see Bowie becoming an incredible social engineer using it. There were no major drawbacks except for the moral ambiguity around messing with someone’s mind. It had no combat application and wouldn’t directly benefit the other clones. Lukas didn’t mind as much, given the niche a role Joybringer filled.

I’d rather he be my ambassador and merchant than be on the battlefield. Unless things get desperate, I’d rather he stay off it.

Once out of the Grey and somewhere reasonably safer, Lukas intended to retire from combat—mostly. He hoped to return to the old way of things when he would send clones to other cities and regions to complete a variety of jobs. He intended for it to be mostly for trade deals, finding rare materials or essences, and exploration.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Lukas locked in his decision before turning his attention to Fortune’s Favor. It had also reached the ascension threshold. Only four of the essences in his possessions had value for ability ascensions, and two were already earmarked for Shadow Clone and Spellweaver. Essence of Dreamfire seemed the perfect pairing for his newest shard. Meanwhile, the Essence of Vampirism that he gained as one of the rewards for the quest had too cool a name to hand over to Eins, and Lukas had held onto it as a candidate for Biomancy.

Unfortunately, it didn’t give Biomancy anything Lukas deemed valuable besides stealing biomass from living targets. It felt unnecessary since the clones never had any trouble gathering biomass, even high in the icy mountains. Lukas didn’t have grand expectations, but he checked the essence’s compatibility with Fortune’s Favor. The journal only gave him the one option, and it was surprisingly perfect.

Luck Thief: The clone’s power to steal luck from a target will increase incredibly and can be temporarily transferred to an item. Gradually burning it will improve his fortune, or he may donate a portion of it to another. The dice may also be fed luck to improve the chances of a favorable roll.

A high-pitched whistle escaped Lukas as he sat up in bed. He didn’t expect something so simple but potent. He didn’t need to think about it and locked in his decision, planning on checking the guild shops for something to ascend Biomancy. The ability had reached its ascension threshold, but he was in no rush. The current plan involved keeping Morph Prime in the field and working with the Jotun while the rest of the clones were on their way home. Lukas used the Essence of Vampirism and locked in his pick of conjunction abilities.

Penelope had refused to use Escape Portal, and Mira didn’t want to leave her behind. They had spent the previous day avoiding the Jotun and Elder Wyrmkin and were now on their way home. Lukas had charged the clones with protecting the pair with their lives. They had already updated their wards on what had happened. Penelope seemed satisfied for the time being. She hadn’t revealed why she wanted the war against the Jotun, but it didn’t matter.

“You made me go full-on classic bard, didn’t you, boss?” Bowie asked as soon as Lukas summoned him.

“Felt best for our purposes. I need you to find me new essences for Morph. Use your new powers to charm your way into inventories they hide from us.”

“Do you really think the guilds and merchants don’t show us everything?”

“I’m sure of it,” Lukas answered. “We’re still outsiders to these locals. That’s why we need to get the fuck out of this town.”

“What’re you going to do with the Shard of Illusory Dragon?”

“Good question.” Lukas waved Bowie away. “Go do your thing.”

“What? I don’t get to watch and commentate?”

“Why would you?”

“Isn’t that what we do? Hang out, chat, and come to the best decision together?”

“At some point, that’s just me talking to myself,” Lukas said. “Now, run along. I’m still too pissed off for comedy and banter.”

Bowie pretended to begrudgingly comply, but Lukas was sure the clone couldn’t wait to test his new abilities.

The Shard of the Illusory Dragon can produce the following abilities:

• Fae Dragon Physiology(Body): The new clone will gain the power to adopt a hybrid draconic form with magic-absorbing scales, heightened arcane and physical senses, and wings and a tail. Though not strong, fae dragons are naturally agile and stealthy. The clone will enjoy the same benefits.

• Dreamfire Core(Heart): The new clone will have innate dreamfire and the ability to look through illusions. His dreamfire can produce illusions that deceive the arcane, auditory, and visual senses. Though hard to control, concentrated dreamfire can give an illusion physical form.

• Grand Illusionist(Mind): Weaving detailed illusions will come naturally to the clone. The illusory constructs will continue to exist even after their creator has ceased to maintain and puppet them, lasting as long as they have energy.

It was an easy decision. The body and mind abilities were potent. Fae Dragon Physiology combined with Shade’s Mantle and the passive effects of Stormdragon’s Heart would likely brilliantly. Grand Illusionist also intrigued Lukas, but Dreamfire Core paired with Spellweaver’s passive effects would likely do the same. If the combination allowed him to mimic the Shamin’s magic, Lukas couldn’t think of anything better.

Shadow Clone: Tier 3 | Rank 6

Mid-Tier Ability: Empowered Clone II | Super Clone

Tier 2 Ability: Shade’s Mantle II | Domineering Darkness

Body-conjunction ability: Shadow Steel

Mind-conjunction ability: Shadow Illusion

Altered Metal Mass: Tier 3 | Rank 2

Mid-Tier Ability: Cover Weaknesses | Emergency Alteration

Tier 2 Ability: Steel Weave

Tier 3 Ability: Create Quicksilver

Heart-conjunction ability: Dracosteel Scales

Soul-conjunction ability: Shadow Steel

Stormdragon’s Eye: Tier 2 | Rank 4

Mid-Tier Ability: The Calm Before

Body-conjunction ability: Dracosteel Scales

Soul-conjunction ability: Draconic Intelligence

Spellweaver: Tier 2 | Rank 8

Mid-Tier Ability: Mage’s Instinct II

Heart-conjunction ability: Draconic intelligence

Soul-conjunction ability: Shadow Illusion

Arcane Chronicling: Tier 1 | Rank 8

Mid-Tier Ability: Inscribe Arcane Script

Arcane Smithing: Tier 2 | Arcane 2

Mid-Tier Ability: Creator’s Touch

Tier 2 Ability: Mineral Farmer

Heart-Conjunction Ability: Forge Dragon’s Flame

Soul-Conjunction Ability: Shadow Armory

Biomancy: Tier 2 | Rank 9

Mid-Tier Ability: Mimicry II

Heart-Conjunction Ability: Life Dragon’s Aura

Soul-Conjunction Ability: Shadow Mimic

Luck Thief: Tier 2 | Rank 0

Mid-Tier Ability: Divine Fortune

Heart-Conjunction Ability: Aura of Arcane Drain

Mind-Conjunction Ability: Shadowsight

Joybringer: Tier 2 | Rank 0

Mid-Tier Ability: Truthseeker

Tier 2 Ability: Heartshaker

Body-Conjunction Ability: Sonorous

Mind-Conjunction Ability: Enchant Minds

Dreamfire Core: Tier 1 | Rank 0